Q: How to Format A Write Protected Kingston USB Drive

"Recently, my Kingston USB pen drive suddenly became inaccessible and required formatting. But when I tried to format the disk, I got the error message saying that the disk is write-protected andWindows was unable to complete the format. So, how can I remove the write protection from my Kingston USB drive? Is there any third-party Kingston write protected USB format tool that can help?"

USB Is Write Protected, How to Fix?

There are two usual ways to help you identify a digital device that is currently write protected. Sometimes, you'll hear the other term calledread only, which is pretty much the same when trying to use the storage.

1. First of all, when you try to format a removable disk, such as a flash drive, SD card, or an external HDD, Windows prompts you an error message:The disk is write protected.

the disk is write protected

2. Second, without a specific warning, you'll find the drive being write protected because you can open it, but cannot modify data on it.

写protection issue happens now and then. It prevents you from accessing the pen drive to delete, add, copy, or modify your files. To continue using your device, or format the drive without problem, you'll need to write protection removal tool in Windows 10/8/7 to unlock the device.

Here, you can directly download a USB write protected removal tool to automatically clear the lock state, or make some efforts with the manual ways of CMD and Regedit editor. At last, download the EaseUSUSB format toolfor free to format the write protected USB drive with a few mouse clicks.

Free Download

Windows 11/10/8/7100%安全

Automatic Fix - Download USB Write Protection Removal Software

Applies to:average computer users who are not familiar with the Windows Command Prompt; for the purpose of removing write protection easily and quickly, with no chance the make mistakes.

If you don't consider yourself a pro-computer user and you're not familiar with command-lines, don't worry. There are graphical-based solutions to help you remove write-protection from your hard drives, USB drives, and even SD cards.

EaseUS CleanGenius is one of these tools that helps you fix aforementioned issues on your drives without knowing a thing about command-line.

Here's an easy-to-follow guide on how to use this tool to get your issues sorted:

Step 1: DOWNLOAD and install EaseUS CleanGenius (free) on your computer.

Step 2: Run EaseUS CleanGenius on your PC, select Optimization and choose the Write Protection mode.

disable write protection

Step 3: Select the device that is write-protected and click Disable to remove the protection.

Disable Write Protection from storage devices.

Manual #1 - How to Remove USB Write Protection Using CMD

Applies to:Advanced computer users who have a good command of cmd knowledge; Windows 10/8/7 administrators

CMD command line in Windows DOS is one of the solutions to repair and fix write protected memory card or flash drive. Working as a write protected usb format tool, it can help you format Kingston pen drive and remove the write protection within simple steps.

Step 1:Press "Windows + R" and entercmd.

Step 2:Typediskpart.

Step 3:Typelist volume.

Step 4:Type选择卷#(# is the number of the USB HDD you've plugged in).

Step 5:Type磁盘cl属性ear read-only.

Manual #2 - How to Remove USB Write Protection Using Regedit

Applies to:advanced computer users, especially for old versions of Windows including Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Step 1:Click "Start", typeRegeditin the search box, click "Regedit.exe" to open the Registry editor when you see it is displayed at the top of the list.

Step 2:And then navigate to the key:Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

Step 3:Double-click on the "WriteProtect value" in the right-hand pane of Regedit.exe. Change the Value data from 1 to 0 and click "OK" to save the change. Close Regedit and restart your computer.

remove write protection using regedit

How to Format USB with Write Protected USB Format Tool

Once the write protection has been completely removed by using the Diskpart command or Regedit method, you can feel free to format your Kingston storage device with Kingston format utility to easily format it as a new one.

The tool that can help you is EaseUS Partition Master, a reliablepartition toolin the market to help manage disk partitions by formatting, deleting, creating partitions, etc. You can also apply it as a write protected USB format tool to make your Kinstong USB flash drive work normally again.

Free Download

Windows 11/10/8/7100%安全

Step 1.Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition on your external hard drive/USB/SD card which you want to format and choose the "Format" option.

Format External Hard Drive/USB/SD Card - 1

Step 2.Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click "OK".

Format External Hard Drive/USB/SD Card - 2

Step 3.In the Warning window, click "Yes" to continue.

Format External Hard Drive/USB/SD Card - 3

Step 4.Click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click "Apply" to start formatting your external hard drive/USB/SD card.

Format External Hard Drive/USB/SD Card - 4

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Updated byTracy King

Tracy joined in EaseUS in 2013 and has been working with EaseUS content team for over 7 years. Being enthusiastic in computing and technology, she writes tech how-to articles and share technical solutions about Windows & Mac data recovery, file/system backup and recovery, partition management and iOS/Android data recovery.

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Written byDaisy

Daisy is the Senior editor of the writing team for EaseUS. She has been working in EaseUS for over ten years, starting from a technical writer to a team leader of the content group. As a professional author for over 10 years, she writes a lot to help people overcome their tech troubles.

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